Thread: Looking for unsettling/disturbing CDs

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My personal favorite is of course John Carpenter's original score to "Halloween". It is very subtle and simple, but packs such an emotional unrest with the 4 majors themes that are within. I have used and edited it extensively into my haunt the past 2 years, but I want to try something else this year.

I was recommended the releases by Midnight Syndicate, who are local here in Cleveland. I've heard two albums so far, and there is just too much 'cheese' going on that takes away from the eerie atmosphere. Maybe I was just listening to the wrong ones? I know they have quite a few.

Please throw me some recommendations. Albums/soundtracks/FX CDs that are disturbing, unsettling, and/or uncomfortable. Something just downright harrowing and bone-chilling; real horror music. I would prefer mainly just atmosphere/ambient background without conventional rhythm, but I am willing to listen to anything!

I find "tubular Bells" to be really unsettling... something about the way the song is arranged is just... well... haunting to me.

I LOVE the bass riff in that song.

The theme song to "The Omen" always used to give me the creeps.

Well, my recommendation for eerie creepy stuff has got to be Midnight syndicate and Nox Arcana. Midnight, i think born of the night is awesome. I also really like Vampire from nox.

Haha, that's funny you guys mentioned "Tubular Bells" and the theme from 'The Exorcist'; they're the same piece of music! Yeah, definitely creepy.

"Lizard Point" and "The Lost Day" by Brian Eno (off the album 'Ambient 4: On Land') are pretty creepy tracks I stumbled across in my search. I think they actually used one of those tracks in the new movie 'Shutter Island'. That's more of what I'm looking for; ominous, foreboding music.

I have an album on my website that is pretty damn creepy to me. Lots of screams, it's narriated and pretty cool. It's out of print as well.

It's called "A Night in a haunted house/A night in a graveyard." Free to download!

http://oct31st.org/downloads.html (at the bottom of the page)

Let me know what you think!

Originally Posted by kprimm

Well, my recommendation for eerie creepy stuff has got to be Midnight syndicate and Nox Arcana. Midnight, i think born of the night is awesome. I also really like Vampire from nox.

Actually, Midnight Syndicate did Vampyre, not Nox Arcana; theirs is Transylvania. Either way, I'd recommend both groups, too.

NA actually has a reimagined version of the Halloween theme song, called "Fade to Black", on Blackthorn Asylum. Check it out and see what you think, Loogs: http://www.noxarcana.com/blackthorn.html

adam, that album is pretty cool. It definitely has some creepy tracks throughout. I enjoyed listening to it, I wish there was a non-vocal version!

Garthgoyle, the redone theme is interesting. Without the 5/4 time signature, the mood loses a bit, but they probably would have been taken to court if they kept it. A new spin on classic tunes can be a good thing.

I ran into some other creepy albums. I forgot I had the original soundtrack to 'Silent Hill 3' [video game], that has some pretty haunting melodies in it. But without a doubt, after hearing most of the album "Stalker" by Robert Rich & B. Lustmord, I have found some frightening music. Just listen to tracks like "Undulating Terrain" or "Hidden Refuge" and you will truly be creeped out. I could just feel the chills run down my spine. Wow.

I have plenty of audio equipment, after so much research and listening to such inspirational tracks, I just decided I want to make my own. I'll be utilizing a lot of reverb and some VSTs to create a haunting background ambience. Time to scour the fields, microphone in hand, searching for some creepy sounds!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and ideas! I'll report back once I conjure up something creepy!

Something just downright harrowing and bone-chilling; real horror music. I would prefer mainly just atmosphere/ambient background without conventional rhythm, but I am willing to listen to anything!

Here are a few you may want to check out.

Most of these tracks I found on emusic.com:

"Hell"- from the album "Helloween" by Halloween Music. One of my personal favorites. It's like subtle orchestral chamber music with unintelligible voices in the background. Pretty creepy.

"Zombie Zone"-from "The Soundtrack Collection" by Claudio Simonetti.
"Halloween"- from "The Soundtrack Collection" by Claudio Simonetti-an interesting rendition of John Carpenter's theme from "Halloween"

"Carnival Of Souls", "Spirit Symphony", and "Zombie Sonata"-from the album "Music For Zombies" by Verne Langdon. On emusic's website, they list the artist's name for this album only as 'Music For Zombies'.

"Screams From The Cemetery"-from the album "Blood, Brains, & Rock 'n' Roll" by Zombie Girl. Contrary to the title, this track contains no screams, just good ambient background music and subtle sounds you'd hear in a cemetery on a warm summer night. Another of my personal favorites.

And one of my favorites fitting this category is the theme song from "A Nightmare On Elm Street" by Charles Bernstein.

Let me know what you think of these, Loogs.

NA actually has a reimagined version of the Halloween theme song, called "Fade to Black", on Blackthorn Asylum.

I already have several versions of the theme to "Halloween". and this version is a must have for me as well. I also really like the track "When Darkness Falls" from this CD. I just bought "Shadow Of The Raven", so Blackthorn Asylum will be my next CD purchase. Thanks for the info Garthgoyle.

There is a techno artist who goes by the name Brian Anurysm (however that is spelled). he does, as I recall, very dark, creepy, and atmospheric techno. good Halloween music. I'm a DJ; we know a lot of obscure dance artists.....